I spent the first ten years of my life in a small sect which was similarly cult-like. Everyone in this faith was a blood relative and had been for generations. The only conversion in a practical sense was marriage into the family. It was when I saw what Jehovah's Witness members, another cult, were like that I realized that I could never buy into the bullshit. I morphed into an Episcopalian but the war on gays in the priesthood opened my eyes to the boundary between faith and reason.

The belief that there is something hidden in the scriptures, some nuance of understanding, that will only become apparent under special circumstances is completely daft. I have read the bible from cover to cover several times. It's the work of ancient editors with a vast pile of different axes to grind. I believe every word of the bible should be taken at face value. As Sam Harris often says, the fundamentalist christians have that part exactly right.

Kirk - It's funny you went Episcopalian. I was married in an Episcopal church (d'oh!) and had my son baptized there (double d'oh!) It's sad to see that even one of the more liberal denominations still has schisms about whether or not gay people are people.

Also, I'd love to invite you to ExCultNetwork.ning.com. It's not a purely atheist site by any means, because I let people from any cult join, including non-religious cults, but I hope a lot of atheist former cult members will join and help me to promote a culture of critical thinking and skepticism (best ammunition against future cult tactics)